1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pull-chain based shower valve that allows turning of the shower water on and off without the need to reset the temperature control valves.
2. Background of the Prior Art
There are three distinct functional steps undertaken during a typical shower. After the temperature of the water is appropriately set to the desired temperature, a person enters the shower and gets underneath the water stream produced through the shower head so as to get wet. Once sufficiently wet, the person steps generally out of the water stream in order to lather up with soap in order to get clean. Once properly lathered and clean, the person steps back underneath the shower head in order to allow the water stream to rinse the soap off. This rather simple procedure is performed by millions of people on a daily basis but it has a drawback.
During the lathering and cleaning process, the person is substantially out of the water stream yet the water continues to run. As this middle step can take a fair of amount of time to complete, the water that continues to stream from the shower head during this time is wasted as is the energy required to heat the water (most people simply do not take cold showers). Although a person taking a shower can manually turn the water off during this step, most bathers do not so turn the water off due to the difficulty required to turn the water back on to the desired temperature that was achieved during the wetting stage. Most people simply allow the water to continue running with its attendant waste of water and energy.
To combat this problem, devices have been proposed wherein an on/off valve is provided that allows a person to relatively quickly turn the shower water off and thereafter to turn the shower water back on at the same temperature the water was at before the water was turned off. Such devices allow a person to temporarily discontinue the water stream during lathering and to resume the water stream fairly quickly and easily without loss of water temperature comfort. The problem with these prior art devices is that they are relatively complex and require a redesign of the entire shower head assembly, making such device relatively expensive to manufacture and purchase.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for a device that allows a person to turn the shower water stream on and off without the need to reset the temperature or pressure setting each time the water is turned back on, which device addresses the above mentioned problems found in the art. Specifically, such a device must be of relatively simple design and construction so as to not require a complete redesign of a shower head making the device is relatively inexpensive to manufacture and thus affordable to a large portion of the showering consumers. Ideally, such a device must be relatively easy to install and operate.